Iethod of manufacturing boots or shoes



(No Model.)

J. W. FRENCH.

METHOD OF MANUFACTURING BOOTS 0R SHOES;

No. 879,640. Patented Mar. 20, 1888.

N. PETERS. Pmm-Llma m her, Washinglun. n. c,

inner sole.

UNrrEn STATES PATENT @FFlCEQ JUSTUS XV. FRENCH, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS.

METHOD OF MANUFACTURING BOOTS OR SHOES.

SPECIFICATION fanning part of Letters Patent No. 379,640, dated March20, 1888.

Application filed January 17, 1888.

To (LZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JUSTUS \V. FRENCH, of Lyn n, county of Essex, andState of Massach u setls, have invented an Improvement in the Method ofManufacturing Boots and Shoes, of which the following description, inconnection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, likeletters on the drawings representing like parts.

In the preparation of material to be manufactured into boots and shoesupon a sole sewing machine containing a hornas, for instance, of theMcKay class-it is customary to confinetheedgesoftheuppertotheinnersoleby means of tacks during the lastingprocess,and thereafter the outer sole having been applied is stitchedthrough and through, the stitches passing through the edge of the upperand the In this way a series of tacks is left, which is particularlyobjectionable, in and along the ball of the foot, and the said tackswork up into this material, lessening the value of so-called McKay Work.Further, the machine-made shoe sewed through and through is too stiff atthe ball of the sole, and many attempts have been made to make the solemore flexible.

In accordance with my invention herein contained, the sole is made moreflexible, and at the same time the lasting-tacks, applied in usualmanner, are completely removed just.

before applying the usual sock-sole, so that the ball of the foot isfree from tacks or lasting-nails.

My invention consists, essentially, in that improvement in the art ormethod of manufacturing boots and shoes which includes cutting away theedges of the innersole along the ball portion thereof, tacking the upperto the inner sole about its edge and along the edge left by cutting awaythe inner sole, as described, removing the lasted upper from the last,and, with an inner sole added, stitching the outer sole, upper, andinner sole, together by through-andthrough stitches, except along theball portion of the inner sole, severing the upper between the line ofstitching and a line of tacks in the inner sole near its cut-awayportion, and removing from the shoe that portion of the upper and of theinner sole containing the tacks referred to, which were driven SerialNo. 260.068. (Nu model.)

1 into the ball of the inner sole when lasting the upper, as will bedescribed.

Figure 1 in elevation, broken away at the top and broken out at theside, shows a boot or shoe embodying my invention. Fig.2shows the innersole employed by me. Fig. 3shows the inner sole applied to the bottom ofthe last and cuttransversely. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section in theline 00, Fig. 5. Fig. 5 is a plan view (if the upper drawn over theinner sole and tacked thereto, the said figure, by the heavy dottedline, showing the position of the line of stitches which Will unite theupper and inner sole, and also the outer sole when the latter is appliedin place, the outer sole being, however, omitted from said figure, thesmall dotted lines representing the lines in which the upper will be cutalter the soles and upper are united together by stitching, in order toremove that portion of the upper immediately at opposite sides of theball of the inner sole where the lasting-tacks were driven. Fig. 6 showsthe outer sole laid upon the lasted upper of Fig. 5 and stitched. Fig. 7is a partial section across the ball of the foot after the outer solehas been stitched in place and be fore cutting the upper between theline of stitching and the line of tacks along the opposite sides of theball of the inner sole; and Fig. 8 is a cross-section of the completedshoe in the line 00, Fig. 1.

The inner sole, a, of any usual material, will be cut away or notched toleave spaces b Z) at opposite edges of the ball of the foot, so that thestitches uniting the inner sole, upper, and outer sole may run off theinner sole between the points I) b' and not pass through the in nersole.

The inner sole, shaped as described, is applied to the bottom of a last,0, of usual construction, and preferably the said inner sole will besevered with a bevel cut from side to side in the line d,although myinvention would be the same even though the sole were not cut entirelyacross in the line (I, but only partially into the sole from each sidetoward its longitudinal center. The upper e, ot'any usualshape andmaterial, is next laid over upon the bottom of the inner sole and islasted, as it is called, its edges being united to the inner sole byusual lasting-tacks, 2 3 4, the tacks 2 entering that portion of theinner sole between the lines d d, or opposite the cut-away edgesthereof, and called by me the ball' of the inner sole and marked a. Theshoe having been lasted, the outer sole, f, is laid thereon in place, inusual manner, by two or more sole-tacks, the last is removed, and theshoe applied to the horn of a solesewing machine, which will stitch theouter sole, upper, and inner sole together by a line of stitches, g g,the stitches g uniting only the outer sole and upper, thesaid stitchesrunning off the inner sole, as be fore stated. The shoe, having beenstitched substantially about the outer sole and upper, is removed fromthe horn, and the operator, by a knife,will cut the upper in the dottedline 8 between the line of stitching g and the line of tacks 2, andthereafter he may readily remove from the shoe the ball portion aof theinner sole, taking with it a portion of the edge of the upper with thetacks therein.

If the cuts (1 are not extended entirely across the inner sole, but onlypartially so, as in the dotted lines, Fig. 2, then the operator, besidescutting the upper in the line 8, would also be obliged, by a tool, tocut the ball portion a of the inner sole along, say, the dotted lines10, leaving a narrow section of the said ball portion extending alongthrough the center of the shoe; but I prefer to altogether remove theball portion, leaving in the shoe only that portion of the inner soledesignated a and a", the latter representing the toe portion of theinner sole.

Referring to Fig. 7, the dotted lines show the line in which the upperwill be cut preparatory to removing the ball portion a of the innersole, together with that portion of the having been removed, theoperator will lay or pass into the space so left a piece of scrap orother leather or filling, as h, and will complete the interior finish ofthe shoe by the addition of any usual sock-sole, m,which will be pastedor cemented into position.

I claim That improvement in the art or method of manufacturing boots andshoes which includes cutting away the edges of the inner sole along theball portion thereof, tacking the upper to the inner sole about its edgeand along the edge left by cutting away the inner sole, as described,removing the lasted upper from the last, and, with an inner sole added,stitching the outer sole, upper, and inner sole together bythrough-and-through stitches, exceptalong the ball portion of the innersole, severing the upper between the line of stitching and the line oftacks in the inner sole near its cutaway portion, and removing from theshoe that portion of the upper and of the inner sole containing thetacks referred to, which were driven into' the loall of the inner solewhen lasting the upper, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

JUSTUS W. FRENCH.

WVitnesses:

G. W. GREGORY, O. M. GONE.

